US 11806120

Here is a concise summary of U.S. Patent 11,806,120.

Title: Health risk indicator determination

Assignee: Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd

Inventors: Ulrik Wisløff, Christian Ragnar Gutvik

Filing Date: February 4, 2021

Issue Date: November 7, 2023

Abstract:
A method and apparatus for determining health risk for a user are described. The method involves obtaining heart rate values and motion information of the user over a monitoring period. The heart rate values are sampled at a variable rate based on a comparison of previous heart rate measurements to the user's heart rate range (the difference between their maximum and resting heart rate). An expected heart rate level is determined based on the user's motion. An aggregate heartbeat value is then calculated by weighing the heart rate values based on both the motion information and a comparison with the expected heart rate. Finally, a health-predictive activity score is determined from this aggregate value.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

Claim 1: A method for determining a user's health risk by:

• Collecting both heart rate data and motion data over a period of time. The rate at which heart rate is measured changes based on the user's previous heart rate readings compared to their overall heart rate range.
• Figuring out what the user's heart rate should be based on their movement.
• Calculating a total "heartbeat value" by giving more or less weight to the collected heart rate data, depending on both the user's motion and how their actual heart rate compares to the expected heart rate.
• Using this total value to determine a score that predicts health-related activity.

Claim 9: An apparatus (such as a device) for determining a user's health risk, which includes a processor and memory. The device is programmed to:

• Gather heart rate and motion information over time, adjusting the heart rate sampling frequency based on past readings.
• Establish an expected heart rate based on the detected motion.
• Compute an overall "heartbeat value" by weighting the recorded heart rate data based on the motion and a comparison to the expected heart rate.
• Calculate a health-predictive activity score from this overall value.

Claim 17: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (like a memory chip) that contains instructions for a processor to:

• Obtain a user's heart rate and motion data over a monitoring period, where the heart rate sampling rate is adjusted based on a comparison of a previous heart rate measurement to the user's heart rate range.
• Determine an expected heart rate level from the motion data.
• Calculate an aggregate heartbeat value by weighting the heart rate values based on both the motion information and a comparison of the actual heart rate with the expected level.
• Determine a health-predictive activity score from this aggregate value.

A search of the CAFC (Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) dockets for 2026 did not reveal any cases specifically citing US Patent 11,806,120. However, the absence of a result does not definitively mean no litigation exists, as cases could be filed under different names or may not yet be indexed.

As of May 1, 2026, there is no known litigation involving US patent 11,806,120.

A comprehensive search of publicly available litigation databases, including the Unified Patents portal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) case lookup, and the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) national index, reveals no cases citing this specific patent. These resources are standard for tracking patent litigation in the United States.

The initial prompt stated that "The USPTO ODP API returns no AIA trial proceedings for this patent as of the most recent ingest." The web search confirms this by not finding any specific PTAB proceedings (IPR, PGR, CBM) directly associated with US Patent 11,806,120. The search results provide general information about the PTAB and its new P-TACTS system, but no specific case filings for this patent.

Proceedings overview

There are no AIA trial proceedings on file for US Patent 11,806,120 as of May 31, 2026. This means the patent has not been challenged through Inter Partes Review (IPR), Post-Grant Review (PGR), or Covered Business Method (CBM) review at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The absence of PTAB challenges indicates that all claims of the patent are currently untested in an AIA trial setting.

Strategic summary

Currently, all claims of US Patent 11,806,120 are untested in AIA trial proceedings. There are no canceled or sustained claims through PTAB review. This means a defendant facing assertion of this patent would have all statutory bases and prior art grounds available for a potential IPR, PGR, or CBM challenge, assuming the timing requirements for such petitions are met. There are no estoppel issues at play from prior PTAB litigation for this patent, as no proceedings exist. Without any PTAB activity, there are no discernible patterns of challenges by specific petitioners or aggressive appeal strategies by the patent owner.

Recommended next steps

Given that there is no PTAB activity for US Patent 11,806,120:

• If you are a defendant facing assertion of this patent, consider initiating an AIA trial proceeding (IPR or PGR, depending on the circumstances and patent issue date) if suitable prior art can be identified. The absence of previous challenges means the patent has not been "hardened" by surviving PTAB scrutiny.
• Consult the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Case Tracking System (P-TACTS) directly to confirm the absence of any recently filed or unindexed proceedings, as the landscape can change quickly.
• Perform a thorough prior art search, beyond those cited during prosecution, to identify strong grounds for a potential PTAB petition, especially under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103.

Inventors

• Ulrik Wisløff: Professor and Head of the Cardiac Exercise Research Group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) at the time of the priority date (March 20, 2014). He is also noted as the inventor of the Personalized Activity Intelligence (PAI) system.
• Christian Ragnar Gutvik: Employer at the time of the priority date is not explicitly stated in the provided search results. Given his co-inventorship with Ulrik Wisløff, it is plausible he was also affiliated with NTNU or a related research institution in 2014.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on the issued patent, is Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd.

Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd ("Shun Yuan") is a wholly-owned foreign enterprise incorporated with limited liability in the People's Republic of China and a subsidiary of Zepp Health Corporation (formerly Huami Corporation). Zepp Health Corporation is a global sports and wellness technology company primarily engaged in developing, manufacturing, and selling smart health wearable products under brands like Amazfit and Zepp Aura. Given this, Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd likely ships products embodying the claims, or is a critical part of the supply chain for such products. The company is currently operating as a subsidiary of Zepp Health Corporation, which is a publicly traded entity (NYSE: ZEPP).

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US patent 11,806,120 reveals no recorded assignments for this patent. This indicates that the ownership has remained with the original assignee, Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd, since the patent was granted. It is possible that the assignment from the inventors to Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd occurred prior to the filing of the application (or its parent application) and was therefore recorded at the application level rather than as a post-issuance assignment, or it was never separately recorded for this particular continuation patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11806120
    2014 : Priority date
    2021 : Filed by Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua
    2023 : Issued to Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The patent remains with Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Zepp Health Corporation, which is an operating company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of smart wearable products. There is no evidence of transfer to a licensing-only shell entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd and its parent, Zepp Health Corporation, are not identified as known NPEs on public lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. There is no assignment chain for this patent, thus no recurring correspondent.

4. Cascading transfers — not present. No transfers are recorded in the assignment database for this patent.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No litigation is known for this patent, and no assignments have occurred.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Zepp Health Corporation is an active, publicly traded company.

7. Privateering — not present. There is no indication of transfer to an NPE to assert on behalf of an operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is not currently assigned to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data.
While the current assignee, Beijing Shunyuan Kaihua Technology Co Ltd, is part of an operating company (Zepp Health Corporation) that manufactures relevant products, the absence of any assignment records for this specific patent (US11806120) in the USPTO Assignment Center means there is insufficient information to fully analyze the ownership chain or definitively identify NPE/troll patterns. The original assignment from the inventors to the assignee likely occurred at the time of the initial application filing and is not explicitly available for this continuation patent.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US11806120: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html

Based on my analysis of the patent document and its listed citations, here is a summary of the most relevant prior art for US patent 11,806,120. This analysis focuses on references cited by the USPTO examiner, as they were deemed most pertinent during the examination process.

Analysis of Examiner-Cited Prior Art

The following references were considered by the patent examiner during the prosecution of the application for US patent 11,806,120. The analysis details their potential relevance to the patent's independent claims (1, 9, and 17), which form the core of the invention.

1. US20140073486A1 - "Systems, devices and methods for continuous heart rate monitoring and interpretation"

• Full Citation: US Patent Application Publication No. US20140073486A1
• Publication Date: March 13, 2014 (Filed September 4, 2012)
• Brief Description: This application by Bobo Analytics, Inc. describes a system using a wearable device for continuous heart rate monitoring. It discloses collecting and interpreting both heart rate and motion data to provide users with metrics about their physical activity and fitness levels. The system aims to translate raw sensor data into meaningful feedback about exertion and overall health.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims (1, 9, 17): This reference is highly relevant as it teaches the collection of heart rate and motion data over a monitoring period to assess a user's activity. However, it does not appear to disclose two key elements of claim 1:
  1. Variable Sampling Rate: It does not explicitly teach modifying the heart rate sampling rate based on a comparison of a previous heart rate measurement to the user's overall heart rate range (maximum minus resting).
  2. Specific Weighting Method: It does not describe the specific process of determining an expected heart rate from motion data and then weighting the actual heart rate values based on a comparison between the two.
     Therefore, while this reference anticipates the general concept of combining motion and heart rate data for health analysis, it likely does not anticipate the specific methodology claimed in patent 11,806,120.

2. US20120316456A1 - "Sensory user interface"

• Full Citation: US Patent Application Publication No. US20120316456A1
• Publication Date: December 13, 2012 (Filed June 10, 2011)
• Brief Description: This application, assigned to Aliphcom (Jawbone), describes a wearable device that captures physiological data (including heart rate) and motion data. The focus is on using this combined data to provide a comprehensive picture of a user's health and activity, which is then presented through a user interface.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims (1, 9, 17): This reference establishes the state of the art for wearable fitness trackers prior to the priority date of patent 11,806,120. It clearly discloses obtaining both heart rate and motion information from a user. However, like the reference above, it does not appear to detail the specific claimed methods of adjusting the sampling rate based on the user's heart rate range or calculating an aggregate value by weighting heart rate against a motion-derived expected heart rate. Its disclosure is more general, focusing on the collection and presentation of data rather than the specific algorithmic manipulation claimed in patent 11,806,120.

3. WO2013166341A1 - "Physiological characteristic detection based on reflected components of light"

• Full Citation: WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO2013166341A1
• Publication Date: November 7, 2013 (Filed May 2, 2012)
• Brief Description: Also from Aliphcom, this application details methods for improving the accuracy of optical (PPG) heart rate sensors. It specifically discusses using motion data from an accelerometer to filter out noise and motion artifacts from the heart rate signal.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims (1, 9, 17): This reference strongly links the use of motion information with heart rate sensing. However, it uses motion data for a different purpose: to correct the raw heart rate signal and ensure its accuracy. In contrast, patent 11,806,120 uses motion data to generate a physiological benchmark (the expected heart rate) against which the measured heart rate is compared to calculate a health score. This is a fundamentally different application of the motion data. The reference also does not discuss a variable sampling rate tied to the user's heart rate range.

4. US5243992A - "Pulse rate sensor system"

• Full Citation: US Patent No. 5,243,992
• Publication Date: September 14, 1993 (Filed March 30, 1990)
• Brief Description: An early patent describing a pulse rate sensor that can adjust its operation. It discloses a system that can change its mode of measurement, which could be interpreted as a form of variable operation.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims (1, 9, 17): While this patent is older, it was cited for its teachings on sensor systems that can adapt their functionality. It could be relevant to the "variable sampling rate" limitation. However, it does not describe varying the sampling rate based on a comparison to the user's max/rest heart rate range. Furthermore, it is far removed from the modern context of wearable technology and does not disclose the combination of motion data and the specific weighting algorithm claimed in patent 11,806,120. It is therefore unlikely to anticipate the claims as a whole.

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 11,806,120 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis identifies combinations of prior art references that would render the independent claims (1, 9, and 17) of US Patent 11,806,120 obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time of the invention. The motivation for combining these references stems from recognized problems in existing fitness monitoring and the desire to improve accuracy, personalization, and power efficiency in wearable health devices.

The core distinguishing features of US 11,806,120, as identified in the prior art summary, are:

1. Variable Sampling Rate: Modifying the heart rate sampling rate based on a comparison of a previous heart rate measurement to the user's heart rate range (the difference between maximum and resting heart rate).
2. Specific Weighting Method: Determining an expected heart rate level based on motion information and then weighting the actual heart rate values based on both the motion information and a comparison of the heart rate values with this expected heart rate level.

Combination 1: US20140073486A1 (Bobo Analytics) + WO2013166341A1 (Aliphcom - PPG accuracy) + General Knowledge in Wearable Sensing and Power Management

Grounds for Obviousness

A PHOSITA, seeking to improve the accuracy and utility of health risk indicators derived from wearable devices, would have been motivated to combine the teachings of these references.

1. Obtaining Heart Rate and Motion Information (Claim Elements Covered by US20140073486A1):
US20140073486A1 ("Systems, devices and methods for continuous heart rate monitoring and interpretation") explicitly teaches a system that collects both heart rate values and motion information from a user over a monitoring period to provide metrics about physical activity and fitness levels. This forms the foundational step of the claimed invention.

2. Variable Sampling Rate Based on Heart Rate Range (Claim Element Covered by General Knowledge in combination with US20140073486A1 and US5243992A):
The concept of a variable sampling rate is not new. US5243992A ("Pulse rate sensor system") describes a pulse rate sensor that can adjust its mode of measurement, demonstrating the general principle of adaptive sensing. In the context of continuous monitoring by battery-powered wearable devices (such as those described in US20140073486A1), a PHOSITA would be well-motivated to implement variable sampling rates to optimize battery life while maintaining data quality during relevant periods. The background of US11806120 itself states that "Sampling rate could be variable. This can help to achieve a suitable balance between data accuracy and (battery) power consumption." [Description]

Furthermore, using an individual's heart rate range (maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate) as the basis for adjusting the sampling rate would be an obvious design choice for a PHOSITA. The heart rate range is a standard physiological parameter indicating a user's potential for exertion. A PHOSITA would understand that increased sampling is beneficial when the heart rate indicates activity (e.g., above a certain percentage of the heart rate range) and decreased sampling is acceptable during periods of rest or low activity. This personalized adjustment improves efficiency over static thresholds and is a logical application of physiological knowledge to optimize continuous monitoring in a device like that taught by US20140073486A1.

3. Determining an Expected Heart Rate Level Based on Motion Information (Claim Element Covered by WO2013166341A1 in combination with US20140073486A1):
WO2013166341A1 ("Physiological characteristic detection based on reflected components of light") teaches the use of motion data from an accelerometer to filter noise and motion artifacts from heart rate signals. This demonstrates a clear understanding in the prior art that motion information is highly correlated with and can be used to interpret heart rate data. A PHOSITA, building on the combined heart rate and motion sensing from US20140073486A1 and the principle of using motion to inform heart rate interpretation from WO2013166341A1, would be motivated to go beyond mere noise filtering.

The problem recognized by the inventors of US11806120—that a high heart rate might be due to emotional stress rather than physical exertion when motion is low—would further motivate a PHOSITA to refine activity assessment. [Description] To address this, it would be obvious to a PHOSITA to use the motion information to establish an "expected heart rate level" that corresponds to the detected physical movement. This expected level serves as a physiological benchmark, a logical extension of using motion data to contextualize heart rate readings.

4. Weighting Heart Rate Values Based on Motion and Comparison to Expected Heart Rate (Claim Element Covered by WO2013166341A1 in combination with US20140073486A1):
Having established an expected heart rate level from motion (as motivated above), a PHOSITA would then be motivated to adjust the contribution of actual heart rate values to an aggregate activity score based on how they compare to this expected level. If, for instance, a user's measured heart rate is significantly higher than the expected heart rate for their detected motion (e.g., indicating stress rather than exercise), a PHOSITA would logically apply a reduced weighting to those heart rate values when calculating a "health-predictive activity score" that specifically targets physical exertion. This directly solves the problem of inaccurate activity estimation highlighted in the background of US11806120, by ensuring the aggregate heartbeat value more accurately reflects true physical activity. The patent explicitly describes this adjustment, for example, "reducing the weighting applied to heart rate values determined to be greater than a predetermined threshold higher than predetermined expected heart rate values associated with the data indicating movement of the user..." [Description].

5. Determining a Health-Predictive Activity Score (Claim Element Covered by US20140073486A1):
Both US20140073486A1 and US20120316456A1 teach deriving meaningful metrics about physical activity and overall health from collected heart rate and motion data. The concept of a "health-predictive activity score" based on an aggregate measure of activity is a direct outcome of such systems. Statistically linking such scores to health outcomes like peak oxygen uptake is a known practice in health informatics, as noted in the detailed description of US11806120. [Description]

Conclusion on Obviousness

The independent claims of US Patent 11,806,120 would be obvious when considering the combination of:

• US20140073486A1 (Bobo Analytics): For the fundamental collection of heart rate and motion data to assess activity and health.
• WO2013166341A1 (Aliphcom - PPG accuracy): For establishing the principle of using motion data to inform and interpret heart rate readings.
• General knowledge of power management and physiological parameters in wearable devices (possibly aided by US5243992A): For implementing a variable sampling rate that is tailored to a user's individual heart rate range for efficiency and accuracy.

A PHOSITA would be motivated to combine these references to create a more accurate, personalized, and power-efficient system for determining health risk indicators from activity, directly addressing the shortcomings of prior art systems that either misinterpret activity levels or consume excessive power. The specific adjustments to sampling rate and heart rate weighting are logical and straightforward refinements to existing monitoring techniques, driven by a clear need in the art.